NK's suspension of noise broadcasts 'meaningful' in restoring inter-Korean trust: Seoul

This Oct. 30, 2024, file photo, taken from the South Korean border city of Paju, shows what appears to be North Korea's loudspeaker broadcasting facilities installed in a border town. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho

North Korea's suspension of its loudspeaker noise broadcasts along the inter-Korean border is a "meaningful opportunity" to restore mutual trust between the two Koreas, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.

South Korea's military said North Korea appeared to have paused its broadcasts of disturbing noises along the border as of Thursday morning, a day after Seoul halted its own loudspeaker broadcasts of propaganda messages and music.

The North's suspension "helped relieve the suffering of residents in (South Korea's) border areas and has become a meaningful opportunity to ease inter-Korean military tensions and restore mutual trust," the ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The previous day, President Lee Jae-myung ordered the suspension of loudspeaker broadcasts targeting North Korea, in line with his presidential campaign pledges to ease military tensions and halt loudspeaker and leaflet campaigns against the North.

The North's broadcasts of loud noises were last heard in the western border area late Wednesday night, and the shrieking and screeching sounds were replaced by tranquil music in some sections of the border, according to military and provincial officials.

The South Korean military had resumed its loudspeaker campaign in June last year under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, in response to the North's continued launches of balloons filled with trash to South Korea. It marked the first use of this psychological warfare tactic in six years.